A handsome young man, especially one admired for his physical beauty or charm.
From Greek mythology, where Adonis was a beautiful mortal youth beloved by the goddess Aphrodite. The name became a common noun in the 1500s to describe any extremely handsome man.
The story of Adonis is actually quite dark—he's killed by a magic boar while hunting, and Aphrodite's grief is so intense that Zeus allows him to spend half the year with her and half in the underworld, creating an ancient myth about mortality and the fragility of beauty.
Adonis references a mythologically idealized male beauty standard. Asymmetric usage: 'Adonis' normalizes male beauty critique; no equivalent female term has equal cultural weight or frequency.
Use sparingly and symmetrically: apply 'Adonis-like' to any gender when invoking classical beauty ideals. Better: describe specific qualities ('chiseled features', 'statuesque') without gendered mythological framing.
["classically beautiful","statuesque","striking"]
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